Kitchenaid KDS-20 control panel modification

[funktionalart]

Have any of you ever attempted removal of the fake wood grain on one of these? I have yet to remove and inspect one of these control panels...and cannot tell if the wood grain is screen printed/adhered onto the reverse of the acrylic panel or if the grain is applied to a separate panel behind the acrylic.

Fake wood is a no-no in my kitchen...I would love to modify this thing to either black or a red-orange...but really don't want to risk ruining a quite mint-condition item over something so trivial.

Thoughts?

 

[combo52]

Fake Wood

That is not fake wood, that is real plastic burled mahogany, LOL or at least that what a Chrysler car salesman told me when I was looking at a 1986 Town & Country Turbo woody wagon when I commented about the fake plastic wood on the car.

I am with you 100% Allen, fake wood just never cut it on just about anything and there are so many of these KA DW panels out there that I would say go for modifying it if you are going to keep it in your house. In this application it may be hard to change, you would probably have to use a 3M film covering.

 

[hydralique]

Looks to me like you could get a piece of Formica in an appropriate color and texture and have a long slot cut in the middle, then adhere it to the face of the panel. The brushed chrome in the center of the panel with the controls would then be visible in the slot, not a bad look with a charcoal or semi-gloss black surround. Properly installed Formica countertops are pretty much oblivious to the normal steam and heat of a dishwasher so that shouldn’t be a problem. Another possibility would be a high quality urethane automotive paint, but quite a lot of care would need to be taken to prepare the panel and mask it.

 

John’s story of the ‘80s Chrysler salesman reminded me of a similar occurrence that happened to my mother back then when shopping for a car. She looked at a Buick and the salesman made the mistake of bragging on the “beautiful wood” slathered all over the interior. Mom told him she considered an acre of badly done plastic wood to be a reason to not buy the car. She said he looked very surprised and told her everyone else like it because meant the Buick had more class than a Chevy with less fake wood! She ended out with a Peugeot 505 that had no wood of any type in the interior, fake or otherwise and was all the better for it.

 

[funktionalart]

Getting it sorted out right now....

As I'd presumed/feared, the fake burl is affixed to the reverse of the panel and then painted over/primed. It is coming off. And of course...the MOST tedious job of all time. Made the HORRIBLE mistake of putting a bit of dilute jasco on a small area thinking that if I washed it off in time I would not melt the acrylic. Well, I did. Which means now that some sanding work is in order. So, all the burl is coming off slowly via careful placement of side of a razor blade.

This IS going to happen---HAHAHAH! I'll get the acrylic in decent shape in back, retain the original gold details and paint the back in orange. I think. A reddish-orange. If I have success with this, I will share pics. My kitchen isn't retro enough for me to do turquoise or yellow...but the colour I'm considering should be quite sharp looking.